House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Tuesday tapped more far-left Democrats to be added to the Temporary National Economic Committee.
The committee was originally set up in January to “study and combat the concentration of wealth in America and its role in triggering the Great Depression.” Pelosi said the committee is “molded after the mission of the Temporary National Economic Committee,” which was established by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress.
Pelosi added far-left radicals Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), in addition to adding Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Angie Craig (D-MN), and vulnerable Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX).
The speaker also promoted Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), a one-time Goldman Sachs executive, to the committee chair.
In a letter to her colleagues, Pelosi said, “Economic inequality has been a growing concern for years – one that has intensified during the pandemic. The widening chasm between CEO compensation and worker pay has gone from unfair to immoral.”
She continued, “There is recognition that our economy, which is based on free market capitalism, has not served many Americans well. And it has become clear that the stagnation of workers’ pay is an historic picture of injustice.”
Pelosi continued:
Over the past few years, proposals have been brought forward to make capitalism worker-friendly. These innovations include establishing Universal Basic Income, creating sovereign wealth funds generating profits for those most in need, establishing regional economic hubs to address the disparity of geographic opportunity, addressing long-standing barriers to homeownership to bridge the racial wealth gap and ensuring that workers have an ownership stake in their firms.
The speaker said their current mission with her newly selected committee is to “Build Back Better in a way that ensures liberty, prosperity and opportunity for all.”